Man-Thing is the name of a Marvel Comics character. He first appeared in "Savage Tales" #1 (May, 1971). The character was co-created by author Roy Thomas and his editor Stan Lee. His debut story was scripted by Gerry Conway and drawn by Gray Morrow. Man-Thing is not to be confused with DC's Swamp Thing, which premiered within a month of Man-Thing. The two characters have many parallels, including their backstories (both partially written by Len Wein), swampy homes, and being re-imagined by notable comic writers. Both are also similar to an older horror character, The Heap.

Savage Tales was a one-shot publication, though it would be revived as a regular series in 1973. In the meantime Man-Thing gained a regular series in the horror anthology 'Adventure Into Fear'. He became an unlikely hit for writer Steve Gerber, who pushed genre boundaries with the character, providing inspiration for later writers like Neil Gaiman.

Gerber's Retool of the character helped the Man-Thing get his own series, prefiguring Alan Moore's similar reimagining of Swamp Thing; but while Moore's experimentation with the medium garnered him praise and notoriety, Gerber struggled throughout his career with censorship and creator's rights. Gerber introduced Howard the Duck in the pages of Man-Thing, and was soon fighting Marvel over creative control and ownership of the character, costing Gerber his job and leading to a legal case resulting in his bankruptcy.

Unlike Swamp Thing, Man-Thing was a mindless creature living mostly by instinct, hardly aware of his former life. An empathic creature, he often came to the aid of the weak and confronted those who expressed strong negative emotions, since, due to latent psychic empathy, strong negative emotions caused him great pain. Man-Thing has a particular loathing for fear, which comes up often throughout the series, since it is the emotion a giant swamp monster is most likely to elicit. The fact that reacting to that fear makes him secrete a deadly potent corrosive is good enough to scare knowledgeable people as well. Writing stories around a mindless, unchanging character proved difficult, but Gerber showed remarkable variance in the types of stories and characters he was able to fit into this rather limited concept. As usual, he tried to bring a sense of realism and psychological depth to the series, and fans responded.

Man-Thing became a member (of sorts) of the Thunderbolts, Marvel's team of redemptive villains, during Jeff Parker's run. Initially intended to be just the team's transportation, thanks to Hank Pym hacking into the Nexus of All Realities, he became one of the team's strongest and most unpredictable members. Eventually, he underwent a Re Power, giving him a mind of his own and the ability to speak and be understood by anyone he spoke to. When that version of the Thunderbolts came to an end, Man-Thing returned to his swamp.

In 2007, a TV movie was released based loosely upon Gerber's plot about a thoughtless developer trying to drain Man-Thing's swamp. Outside of the authors it inspired, the series is best remembered for its larger collections, infamously titled 'Giant Size Man-Thing'.

This work contains examples of:

All Bikers Are Hells Angels: At one point, Richard Rory has the misfortune to encounter a pack of them in the swamp. Subverted though as they become friends with him.

Alternate Universe: Man-Thing and several supporting characters find their way to a neighboring fantasy world of wizards and warriors during the same dimensional confluence that spawns Howard the Duck.

Ascended Meme: In Thunderbolts, a mystical transformation Man-Thing goes through, combined with the events of Fear Itself, temporarily turn him into a literal "Giant Size Man-Thing"; he is even called such by Songbird. It's not the first time the meme's ascended, either.

Asshole Victim: Most, if not all, of the people who end up feeling the Man-Thing's touch.

Captain Ersatz: Wundarr, a version of Superman who is left in his landing pod when the elderly couple who happens by proves too fearful and suspicious to investigate. He is educated and raised by the pod until discovered and unwittingly released by Man-Thing.

Chain Pain: One of the bikers in early issues attacks Man-Thing with a chain. It gets stuck to him and provides a catalyst to his escape from Schist's death trap.

Empty Shell: What Dr. Sallis becomes after his transformation into Man-Thing.

Even Evil Has Loved Ones: As much as a monster he is, F.A. Schist has a wife and a daughter that deeply care for him. It is also what triggers Schist's wife to attempt an (unsuccessful) vendetta against Man-Thing after Man-Thing kills Schist.

Freak Lab Accident: While working in a swamp trying to recreate Captain America's super-soldier serum, Dr. Ted Sallis is betrayed and injects himself in an attempt to escape, but crashes into the swamp where he is transformed . . .

Hellgate: The 'Nexus of All Realities' in Man-Thing's swamp. Not to be confused with the other "Nexus of All Realities", the M'Kraan Crystal...though the two are connected on some level.

Hijacked by Ganon: Both original runs revealed near the end that The Netherspawn was the one pulling the strings.

Hollywood Acid: Man-Thing is scary enough for the unwary as a shambling plant monster, but the fact that he secretes a deadly corrosive when he encounters fear scares the hell out of people who know about him too.

Literary Agent Hypothesis: In the final issue, Gerber tells us that the stories were provided to him by Dakimh the Enchanter, and that he's decided to stop writing them after being dragged into the story, himself.

Logical Weakness: He burns anyone who feels fear. This of course means that if something can make Man-Thing feel even a flicker of fear than he'll be immolated by his own powers. He's actually died this way twice.

Mad Artist: Eugene Spangler is a singer and poetist that is unhealthily obsessed with chaos and madness, and doesn't even care when the Mad Viking bursts in his camp and starts murdering his mates and then himself.

Original Man: Adam K'ad-mon is theorized to be the first human being (and is where the trope gets its name). Disturbingly, it looks almost exactly like the Man-thing and guards the prime matrix, focal point of the "multiverse".

Posthumous Character: Edmond in "The Kid's Night Out" is run down by a cruel, uncaring world, but a certain shambling mound is prepared to balance the scales.

Public Domain Artifact: You can't have a fantasy in the Florida swamp without a Fountain of Youth and some ancient Conquistadors.

Red Eyes, Take Warning: For those who know fear burn at the Man-thing's touch! And there is plenty of reason to be afraid of an ugly nigh infinitely regenerating giant with super human strength and corrosive secretions who does not want you in its swamp.

Stars Are Souls: In one issue, Korrek recounts a story where a man ventured into the sky to pick a star to his lover. The stars are made of the souls of warriors, so the upon bringing the thing down it turns into one, kills the man and steals his woman.

Was Once a Man: Until he tried to keep a recreated version of Captain America 's Super Soldier serum away from foreign spies. Cornered and with no options left, he injected the serum into himself, moments before the spies gunned him down. The serum, combined with the mystical energies of the swamp, transformed the scientist into a shambling, mindless monstrosity.

Weirdness Magnet: It's not so much him as his habitat, but since Man-Thing's swamp is a Nexus Of Realities, not to mention saturated with mystical energy, weird and strange things tend to pop up there more often than not.

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